{"id":63417,"date":"2023-04-04T02:41:12","date_gmt":"2023-04-04T02:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailrelay.com\/?p=63417"},"modified":"2026-10-07T10:32:47","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T10:32:47","slug":"basic-email-marketing-glossary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailrelay.com\/en\/blog\/2023\/04\/04\/basic-email-marketing-glossary\/","title":{"rendered":"Basic email marketing glossary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In this article, we’ll look at some of the most important terms related to email marketing<\/strong>, so we can get a clearer picture of the possible differences and what each concept refers to.<\/p>\n\n

It isn’t an overly long article, and we’ll present every concept in summary form so we can focus only on what matters.<\/p>\n\n

You’ll see that some concepts are quite similar, though with slight nuances.<\/p>\n\n

You’ll even find that some of them can be used interchangeably without much trouble.<\/p>\n\n

Let’s start with the basics<\/p>\n\n\n

\u00b7 Email<\/h2>\n\n

An email is an electronic message, essentially the digital version of the old-fashioned letter.<\/p>\n\n

It enables communication between a sender and one or more recipients in a convenient, immediate and private way.<\/p>\n\n

It’s sometimes also used to refer to the email account or address, that is, the electronic mailbox to which messages can be sent.<\/p>\n\n

\u00b7 ESP<\/a><\/h2>\n\n

\u201cEmail Service Provider\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n

Behind this odd acronym are companies you surely know, such as Gmail<\/a>, Outlook or Yahoo!<\/p>\n\n

These are the companies that let you create email addresses, as well as manage, send and receive emails.<\/p>\n\n

\u00b7 Email client<\/h2>\n\n

These are the applications that work with the services offered by the ESP.<\/p>\n\n

You can think of them as an interface that sits on top and helps you manage your emails, so you can write new ones, receive, reply, delete, and so on.<\/p>\n\n

These applications aren’t designed for managing bulk email sends; although you can CC people, the volume they can send is very small. Keep in mind that there are also volume limits set by the ESPs.<\/p>\n\n

These programs are meant for sending and receiving emails for personal or office use.<\/p>\n\n

\"Email<\/figure>\n\n

\u00b7 Email marketing, definition<\/h2>\n\n

This is the general term usually used to cover all marketing actions that use email as the channel<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

This can include sending newsletters, sending bulk mailings, or using transactional emails<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Sending a bulk mailing to 20,000 contacts is not the same as sending a transactional abandoned cart recovery email.<\/p>\n\n

They’re different actions, yet both use email as the channel, so we could include both under email marketing.<\/p>\n\n

Email marketing<\/strong> is a cost-effective and efficient marketing tool, as it’s a direct and private channel.<\/p>\n\n

Unlike other tools, it gives us a wider scope of action and much less outside interference (noise).<\/p>\n\n

This is one of the key factors behind its effectiveness.<\/p>\n\n

As for cost, it’s also usually lower than other tools, partly because it isn’t affected by the level of competition.<\/p>\n\n

\u00b7 Email marketing tool<\/h2>\n\n

There are many email marketing tools<\/a> on the market; their most basic function is to let you:<\/p>\n\n

\u00b7 Manage your contact list<\/p>\n\n

\u00b7 Easily design your bulletins<\/a> or newsletters<\/p>\n\n

\u00b7 Send them<\/p>\n\n

\u00b7 Handle any errors, unsubscribes, etc.<\/p>\n\n

\u00b7 And get statistics<\/p>\n\n

Depending on the tool you choose, you may get even more features; for example, in Mailrelay’s case you can see the most important ones here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Unlike email clients, email marketing tools don’t let you receive or manage replies to the mailings you send.<\/p>\n\n

Some useful information that email marketing tools can provide is:<\/p>\n\n

\u25ba Open rate<\/h3>\n\n

This is the number of emails opened out of the total sent.<\/p>\n\n

It’s a metric or statistic that has traditionally been widely used to assess the results of email campaigns<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Right now, it’s not at its best due to ESP restrictions and intermediation, so the information provided is often less complete or not always available.<\/p>\n\n

Instead, it’s more effective to assess results based on other data, such as the click rate.<\/p>\n\n

\u25ba Click rate<\/h3>\n\n

This information relates to the number of clicks on the links you include in your email.<\/p>\n\n

It’s valuable information that will also help you better understand your subscribers’ interests.<\/p>\n\n

\u00b7 SPAM<\/h2>\n\n

Unwanted emails, that is, emails you receive without having requested information, often without knowing the sender.<\/p>\n\n

It’s a practice penalized by ESPs, which try to limit and block this type of sending.<\/p>\n\n

\u00b7 Email lists (contact databases)<\/h2>\n\n

This term refers to the contact list: the emails of our customers or potential customers.<\/p>\n\n

This is the list of emails we import into the email marketing tool so we can send mailings or newsletters.<\/p>\n\n

In its most basic form, this list will contain only emails, but it’s also possible to include other data:<\/p>\n\n